UK Finance, in partnership with DLA Piper, has published Value, Not Volume: Market disclosure in a digital world, a new report setting out proposals to simplify and improve the UK’s corporate reporting and market disclosure framework. The report follows the government’s recently announced Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation and comes ahead of the Financial Conduct Authority’s forthcoming Disclosure and Transparency Rules Review.

The research, informed by desk-based analysis and interviews with market participants across the UK, EU and US, finds that listed companies are disclosing more information than ever before, but not always in ways that improve clarity. Annual reports now routinely exceed 250 pages, while FTSE 100 annual reports have grown by 27 per cent since 2019, averaging more than 150,000 words.

The report argues that the UK’s disclosure regime is often fragmented and duplicative, increasing cost and complexity for companies while making it harder for investors to identify decision-useful information. It calls for targeted reform focused on better disclosure, not less transparency.

Proposals include delivering a modernised corporate reporting regime at pace, allowing companies to publish static information online rather than repeat it annually, and removing low-value disclosures that create market noise. Over the medium term, the report also recommends a broader review of the disclosure framework, stronger alignment of forward-looking statement requirements and greater harmonisation of sustainability reporting.

UK Finance says a clearer, more proportionate regime would support investor confidence, reduce unnecessary burden on companies and strengthen the competitiveness of UK public markets.